10797/Surviving Infinity: Loki's Terrible

Surviving Infinity: Loki's Terrible
Date of Scene:	20 January 2020
Location:	Space, and Manhattan Rooftop
Synopsis:	Avengers and two Asgardians deal with the aftermath of a brush with the Titan.
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (van Dyne), Spider-Woman (Drew), Sif, Black Widow (Romanoff), Scarlet Witch, Loki
Tinyplot:	Surviving Infinity

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Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Defeat. Crushing, abject defeat. Loki's smug smile is turning towards his personal portal out of the burning hellscape around them. Wanda's grappling with the impotent rage of Mikonia trapped in a fragmented shard of the Mirror Dimension. The four Avengers-- Janet, Natasha, Jessica, and Wanda-- are being frog-marched towards the portal that Sif slashed into reality to bear them on Loki's trajectory, whatever master plan the Trickster God is playing.

Janet limps along a few steps then puts too much weight on her knee. She stumbles, cries out, and sprawls in front of Sif. For a moment she becomes the most minor of hindrances to the towering Shield-Maiden of Asgard.

Which is precisely when Janet explodes up from the ground with an improbable change in mass, driving an elbow behind her to knock the stalwart princess off her heels. The Wasp digs a hand into her duffel bag and flings a metal cylinder to the ground, even as she vanishes once again into obscurity.

This time, however, she's concealed amidst an orchestra of hundreds of thousands of ants. Specifically, winged variants of the genus Camponuts-- Carpenter Ants. Already irate by their captivity in that tiny metal container, they're driven to inchoate rage by the commands Janet issues them mentally. They mostly spare the Avengers, save for a few stings and bites here and there. More than anything they create a dramatic and frenzied insurgency of swarming insects. It's the sort of attack that tickles the base ganglia, the part of the brain where primordial fear of fire and roars is stored.

All is chaos for a moment as the ants swarm and buzz to fill every inch of the room. Then, abruptly, a sphere-shaped area clears around Janet-- and Sif, on one knee in front of her. Janet holds her hostage with absolutely zero physical capability. She's no match for strength with the doughty Asgardian warrior.

But fingers are clenched around the back of Sif's neck, and she's using the warrior woman as cover-- and she's letting the ants inform her senses instead of trying to trust her eyes around a trickster demigod.

"One move and I will blow your head off," Janet snarls into Sif's ear. Those tiny fingertips against Sif's neck grow warm with the threat of bioplasmic discharge.

"I can blast a hole in an Asgardian ferry with my hands, Loki!" Janet yells. She twists this way and that, extending her senses to let the ants warn her of anyone trying to sneak through the dense cloud they leave. "You release us all, now! Or I swear to GOD I will blow her head off!"

Nothing about Janet's voice or demeanour sounds particularly sane-- or reasonable. "Show your face!"

"NOW!" she screeches.

The building shudders around them, the heat growing increasingly intolerable. Janet doesn't seem to care, even as sweat beads under her helmet and runs down her neck.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Goddammit." Jess ducks for cover the minute that Janet starts to move, adding a few more choice curses when the ants come out. Sure, she could break out the pheremones, but that is //not// worth a few ant bites. Even if they're not a lot of fun.

From the relative cover fo the destroyed projector, she lowers her voice to speak to the comms on the team only. "Janet, it's a fucking ploy," she whispers fiercely. "He's playing double-agent and hedging his bets. It's an //act//."

Peeking out, she raises her voice again. "Guys, I don't care whose portal we're going through, but it's time to pick one and //go//!"

Sif has posed:
Patiently, Sif kneels. She can feel the heat emitted from the small Avenger's hand sinking into her neck, though it's still relatively cool in comparison to the room's rapidly heating air. The ship above hasn't stopped its efforts. Her eyes slide to Jessica. Would that the Vanir Princess could nod, but the unfortunate placement of the Wasp's palm would more than just sting like the ants.

"I am not under anyone's control, Miss Van Dyne. Cease this nonsense. You'll kill us all with your foolish attempt at heroism," she says, voice low and cold, steely as the enchanted sword she keeps point down to the ground of the control room.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha had awoken just in time for Loki to turn on them all. Color her surprised! She expected as much from him. She has a nice bump on her head but otherwise is unharmed.

Of course, Loki double crossing them is a little too perfect. Which is why she actually has to agree with Jessica's conclusion.

As the insects swarm into the room, which is reaching a level where there is not much air, she has to make a choice. They all do. She looks at the portal that Loki just went through and just follows him. "Right away. Master." The last word is said with a lovely coating of sarcasm. But she does what is probably the last thing anyone expects. She follows Loki. Voluntarily. "Let's get out of here before we all fry like turkeys on Thanksgiving."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
A day might be much better without a swarm of ants possibly running for president. Ants trying to bite through Wanda's layered clothing need to bypass the arcane protection summoned before they fell through a portal, but the skittering of many little feet over her is enough to send her hurtling in retreat after the most reliable source of defense for the whole kit and kaboodle. When in doubt, follow the Black Widow. The young woman's dark hair falls around her face, concealing a good portion of that taut, almost blanked-out expression.

Not a sound passes her lips, the tension burning in her downcast features surely an after-effect of the reeking sorrow that bleeds up from the building, the very terrestrial surface. Where goeth Natasha, she follows. A shiver races up her back and she wraps her arms around herself, making herself that much smaller while the mirror-hard planes and fractalized windows into the Mirror Dimension recede to something almost unseen around her. A cruel prison for Mikonia, surely.

"Mmhmm," is her only uttered sound as she mirrors Natasha. Her position conveniently covers the assassin's back. Don't mind the tiny rubescent embers hiding in the depths of her eyes, a banked mote.

Loki has posed:
The ants are not something the mage likes. Loki does manifest in appearance, but he also throws a sphere of fire around himself to crisp the ants, and begins to hike the heat level. Seeing as the room is a lot like the surface of the sun already, he's throwing gas on the fire. Literally.

The disgust for Janet is very apparent; but then, he's a very, very good actor. Or he hates her as much as she him. Sif gets a brief look. There's minor warning there: they may be spied on, and Loki's not going to risk that. "Make them come," Loki commands at Sif.

Loki then directly steps back into his portal, allowing Natasha and Wanda to follow, it seems. The portal stays open...

And leads to a mind-bending series of portal jumps. It's mind-squeezing at the very least. It's as if intentionally winding to throw off pursuit.

Loki's portal lets out into a busy, loud night in New York City. The rooftop where the portal leads is sheltered, but it is still quite cold, on the January night. Compared to the oppressively burning heat that the group was just in, it's entirely disorienting, and a shock to the system.

Loki's nowhere to be seen on the rooftop. That doesn't mean he isn't /there/, of course.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
With Natasha and Wanda through the portal, Jess decides against the joys of sweet reason just now. It's getting hot in here, and not the kind of hot that taking of all your clothes can solve.

Straightening from her cover, she pushes off of the ground and runs full speed toward Sif and Janet alike, opening her arms to tackle the pair through the open portal. Janet is likely to feel more of that than Sif, even if she tries to direct more of her energy toward the more durable Asgardian.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Jes--" Janet's eyes go wide in shock. She was ready for Loki to make a move. Fairly confident he was, in fact. The Wasp tries to adjust her weight but she's too addled and incoherent to respond to this sudden change of events. All she manages is a yelp of surprise and she lifts her hand in a lame attempt to keep the agile Spider-Woman from tackling her and Sif alike.

And it drives home just how much stronger Jess is when Janet's shoved unceremoniously through the portal with a violent amount of acceleration. She tries to tuck into a roll but with her lamed knee, all Janet manages is to protect her shoulder from being dislocated on impact and instead bounces her helmet off a concrete balustrade on the roof. The hollow *thunk* proceeds a groan and Janet rocks onto her side, dazed by the impact finally knocking some sense into her-- or just plain knocking her senseless.

Sif has posed:
Sif merely closes her eyes at seeing the bullrush of motion headed in her direction. She doesn't let go of Brumeoalfold even as they all travel back through the portal and out into the far colder expanse of the rooftop. Perhaps it's luck that the sword's edge doesn't cut anything but the material of the roof itself. Granted, it's still a bumpy stop for Sif herself, and full of the near-musical resonance of armor clanging against itself.

Quickly, the Aesir warrior gets to her feet. She looks about and blows a slow, quiet sigh. "I am unharmed and within my own faculties," she states for the record and edification of all present. A quick glance at Janet sprawled out has her thinning her lips. "If I may. Miss Van Dyne is under great stress at this time. Would that she be taken to a place of care here on Midgard and made to rest, that would be best.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
When they arrive on the rooftop, Natasha steps to the side immediately and quickly scans the area. Thankfully her costume is insulated in order to allow her to withstand the cold. Doesn't make it any less of a shock to the system. She shivers a bit and shakes her head then looks around the rooftop. "Agreed. I think Janet has been pushing herself too much. She has to rest or she will be a danger to herself and others."

She hates saying it but she is a realist. "But first. Loki. I'm guessing you are around and can hear me but would prefer not to get shot in the back." The thought had crossed her mind. Twice.

"This better have been a bluff on your part."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The transition from scorch to frost steals Wanda's breath away, bringing her to turn away from the chattering cold. Protected from blades and spells does not mean protected utterly from nature. Shoving her hair from her face gives only momentary relief from the snarled tresses dancing around her cheekbones, snapping over her brow. "Evidently. This is a baseline for your aura?" A quick inclination of her head Sifward gives an inkling of who she speaks to. Her eyes are slowly overtaken by that glow drowning out everything else, a lone visual reminder she doesn't bother to suppress as her Sight yawns wide, leveled like the hammer to a usual moment-by-moment scalpel.

She beelines across the rooftop to Janet, dropping down to her knees beside the woman. A swift appraisal by gentle touch and saturated mystical senses hopefully determines if the sprawled woman is at all conscious, shielded by the witch. "We have you." Fact-finding at its best can wait after carefully looking for broken bones, evidence of smaller hurts in the physical domain by cracks to Janet's physical pattern. Murmurs of reassurance fall, soft as rain. Maybe promises for a nice warm cinnamon bun and a huge cup of double espresso in a dolce latte.

Loki has posed:
Loki's frustrated, and his annoyance is prodded effectively by Natasha. So she gets his snark. Disembodied. "Perhaps you would have preferred to be roasted alive? Because that dampening aura in there would have caused that; none of us could teleport or leave until it stopped. That was a funeral pyre, that building, in case you hadn't noticed."

Loki reappears, with a roll of heat from his body; he's re-engaged his fireball shield. It means he's actually very pleasant, suddenly, to be near on the roof. That might not be his intent, but he's a wash of comfortable heat!

"I don't possess my scepter, incidentally," Loki says, petulant. He then eyes the group. "Or do I." He rolls his eyes, though, aware they won't believe him either way. "I think a 'Thank you Loki' is in order, personally. 'Thank you for putting your own life on the line for ours, despite them being insignificant'," Loki suggests. He casts a look towards Sif as if for assistance on this point.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica pushes off of Janet and Sif once they're through the portal, flipping to land lightly a few feet away to at least spare them her weight on landing. "Sorry," she says to Sif with a brief, apologetic look before she walks over to Janet, crouching down next to her.

"Janet, hon?" she asks, reaching down to try to open up the visor on her helmet. "I think it's time to lay off the energy drinks."

She glances up toward Loki, quirking a brow slightly. "Thanks. Out of curiosity, what were you doing there in the first place? Didn't seem like a prime vacation destination."

Sif has posed:
Sif's attention doesn't stray from Janet until she's certain the young woman is being attended to by her comrades. Only then, with a sharp considering glance winged towards Natasha, does the Aesir Princess roll her steps across the rooftop to return to Loki's proximity. It's comfortably warm here: a little delight amidst trouble. She lifts her chin as she stands in the mage's shadow, Brumeoalfold not yet returned to its sheath.

Firstly, she answers Wanda: "You will find my aura unsullied. I am myself." The Witch is welcome to look over that which composes Sif, body and soul alike.

Secondly, she speaks up before the Trickster God can reply. "We would not choose to vacation there, no. Mikonia was our target, and our intent was to kill her. She is doing far more than abducting your fellow Avengers. She is hunting for the Infinity Stones." Sif's glacially-blue eyes remain cold. "This will not stand. That she is captured may not be enough."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Fantastic fucking job you were doing," Janet groans softly. Wanda's gentle ministrations are bringing the injured Wasp around quickly enough-- she's got to have a logsplitter of a headache, but her eyes are cracked to angry slits.

"Standing around 'watching patrols'. Then that big show and song about mind controlling Sif." Janet grips Wanda's leather-clad shoulders with a feeble determination as if struggling to get to her feet. She doesn't quite have her balance in order, yet.

"I could have killed her. Woulda killed you. Would have left Asgard without someone sitting on the throne," she points out.

"You're lucky Jess cold-cocked me," she grates. "Did it ever occur to you, ever, that maybe some of us should be let in on your rinkydink little plan before a friendly fire incident triggered an interstellar diplomatic incident?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"You need to sleep," Wanda says under her breath, quiet enough where Jessica can easily hear. "Regulated sleep, not a sixteen hour stretch. While I could aid this, I doubt you would welcome it, Janet. Neither is alluding to a plan in advance wise. The more who know it's false, the more obvious it can be. Some can read emotions, no matter how much you close your mind down. The body is a fabulous traitor, sometimes." Handling Janet with care requires repositioning herself, curved like a blood moon in its crescent phase. Her hands open slightly above the prostrate Avenger's knee, and the unholy shimmering of scarlet light blooms between her splayed fingertips.

Nebulous filigree tendrils trail like gossamer from a controlled orbit, all organic curves and swirls imposed to order with a linearity not present before. Mystic spikes burst from the back of her palms and dance along Janet's body, silhouetting certain places with an inverted aurora, warming as it sinks in. To anyone with an ounce of magical detecting, that is not magic, and probably infinitely more unsettling for what actually transpires: wiping out the hurts of the body by resetting everything back to what /she/ thinks it ought to be.

Then, only then, does she address Loki. "Thank you." Plain, simple, the words do not scald the tongue or come with more than a measured opportunity. "It was a charnel-house. How many died there?" Pauses lengthen. "The devestation counts for so many lives, that power given up for..." Words not to answer. She shakes her head surreptitiously. "The woman has not been resolved. Distances there count for less. If you must deal with her before she harms others, then so be it."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha was about to say something in return to Loki's comments but Janet awakens. As she is busy demanding a few answers of her own, the Widow sidles a tiny bit closer to Loki. Not because she wants to be anywhere near him. But he does have a lovely heat shield on. Her questions will wait.

Loki has posed:
Not just one Thank You, but two. Loki didn't expect it, and there's a little blink. That's the only tell there is, though; he's a mask of annoyed sass otherwise. Still, getting the Thank-Yous wasn't nothing, and does create a little toss of his head and wry smile, instead of more nastiness.

"I didn't anticipate being trapped in there; I expected to just /supervise/ your effort. That, /or/ that he could detect infinity stones. He locked the room, and mentioned them. I improvised." And like always, Loki underestimated the humans. In this case, in a way problematic to everyone: he didn't think they'd be able to do enough damage to actually mess up his agenda!

Loki blanches, looking at Sif as if injured. "Besides, I informed Sif of my plan." He did, in his way. "I don't want to join his crew in particular, but I'm also the best option to spy on it if necessary later." A side-eye is given to Janet. He didn't miss her statement about the Asgard throne. "I have yet to decide which is the best move, but I like /options/."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Yeah. Well." Jessica gives Janet another long, searching look, making sure she isn't going to attack anyone else, before glancing back at Loki. "I can't blame you, I'd've probably done the same thing if anyone would've bought and I knew what in the hell an infinity stone was or what it meant or how it worked," she drawls, dry.

"But if I had to guess, it sounds like whoever is there is already pretty on to us, yeah?" She looks between the others, keeping a hand on Janet's shoulder. Just in case. "That planet was //trashed//. How do we stop that before it gets to us?"

Sif has posed:
Away goes Brumeoalfold. The sword slips into its sheath with a quiet clear ring of sound and Sif merely fists her hands on her hips now, stance militant and more clearly peeved than Loki, perhaps.

"Options will be further discussed." She gives the Prince of Asgard a side-eyeing of her own briefly. "For now, let us all rest knowing that there are greater issues to be resolved -- and these merit a better diplomacy than henpecking over past conflict. I am grateful for your parts in this, Avengers." A beat. Sif then can't help but add, tartly: "To an extent."

Her tone levels out once more. "Fate was in our favor that we survived. She is correct." The Vanir Princess nods towards Jessica. "That must not be the Fate of any further worlds. It will take teamwork. Trust."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Trust." Natasha looks at Sif then over at Loki before glancing back at Sif. "I hope you understand that, despite this particular situation, trusting Loki will be...difficult for some of us. To say the least. Having been at ground zero during his bid for ruling our planet." She tends to hold a bit of a grudge.

She focuses on the situation at hand though, leaving that be. "What do we know?" Natasha asks, analyzing even as she continues to enjoy that fire shield a bit more. She ticks off points on her fingers. "Mikonia was working for this other entity. The Titan?" Another finger. "Her boss is looking for something called Infinity Stones." A third finger. "They are not beyond complete genocide to achieve their goals, whatever those are."

She looks around the group of Asgardians and Avengers. "So we need to figure out the end goal, what infinity stones are and what to do with our captive. She might be a source of information."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet's feeling just well enough for another flare of muleheadedness to start getting her anger going again. It pushes past Wanda's soothing attentions, though clearly she's feeling the exhuastion of the last few weeks settling wearily into her bones. Thanks, Wanda, for the total body cleanse-- it's the first time Janet's bloodstream hasn't been diluted with pharmacological aids in a while.

Jess, fortunately, keeps just enough pressure on Janet's shoulder to prevent the Wasp from actually getting her feet under her and building up a proper head of steam.

Janet smirks at Natasha's incisive rebuke of the Asgardians, and by the time Natasha's finished her sum-up, Janet's nodding.

"And she was willing to kidnap some of our best and brightest to do it," she appends. "Which means either they were in the way, or they're part of this Titan's path to getting them."

Janet shivers despite the bodysuit she's wearing, more from fatigue than any sense of coldness. "Well. We're all just *screamingly* grateful for Asgard's 'supervisory' assistance here," Janet says, and manages a tone of withering dissension as dessicated as the Sahara. "But somehow we mere mortals will manage it." She grips Jessica's wrist and tries to get to her feet without making it look like she's pushing away from the agent's warning squeeze to her shoulder. A flickering glance is given to Jessica and Janet nods once, tightly. She'll not lash out again.

"As for our captive, I think that's dealers choice," Janet says, looking to Natasha and Jessica. "You wanna start with pulling teeth or toenails?"

"Anyway, if we're all done here, then, we've got a prisoner to transport to some dank holding cell. If she comes up with anything of relevance, we might let you know where our next step is."

Her smile's tight, forced, and includes Sif and Loki at once. "You know. Sharing plans and intelligence. As an expression of *trust*."

Loki has posed:
"Since you're going to have such a hard time trusting anything I say, I'm going to /suggest/ you talk to Doctor Strange about Infinity stones." Also, they'll bother Dr. Strange, which also pleases Loki, and he doesn't have to monologue. (Nobody needs that.) Never mind that Loki recently ousted Dr. Strange from his own sanctum. That's probably not going to come up; the Doctor is all moved back in now, after all.

"But I /will/ say that Infinity stones have certain signatures, and can sense each other. So if you have one, easier to pick up on the others. I don't think the Titan has one, or I think our little conversation would have been different. I do think he will probably acquire one, and then come this way. How much time that is?" Loki lifts a shoulder and waggles a hand as if it weren't important.

"Your missing Avengers are probably dead," Loki adds. "Not my preference either; I was owed favors," Loki laments. Can't collect favors from dead people. "But humans are fragile. If we talk again, I'll give you an update on what I hear about /them/. You know. /Sharing intelligence/." Loki might know something, and he's being ... terrible.

But that's the trade.

"Lady Sif," Loki says promptly, looking to her. "Would you do the /honors/?" The portal home, that is.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"You were //so close// to not being a dick." Jessica holds her finger and thumb nearly touching, but the other arm is already reaching out to wrap firmly around Janet's shoulders. "So close."

Rolling her eyes broadly, she starts to turn to drag Janet in the opposite direction. "He didn't think you could mess up his plan either, Janet," she points out helpfully. "Obviously gauging human capabilities isn't his strong point. Come on. I think there are still donuts left."

Sif has posed:
Sif's eyes slide off to one side in an obvious showing of strain involving the entire situation at this point. While Jessica begins to shepherd the Wasp away from the potentiality for yet another fracas, the Vanir Princess draws Brumeoalfold with a crystalline chime far more clear and resonating. Already, the thinnest glow of enchantment has begun to glow along its edges, and reality itself begins to quiver near it like the rise of heat mirages in the desert.

"Of course," says she curtly as to the opening of another rent upon the veils between Midgard and Asgard. A keen set of swipes in a deliberate pattern off to one side and there: warmer sunlight falls through to showcase what appears to be a balcony made of fine marble. "Go through, I will follow shortly." Her gauntleted gesture crosses the plane of her body while the enchanted sword remains free of its scabbard at her side, gleaming yet.

Loki has posed:
Loki doesn't bother to bid farewell. He mostly just looks bored, gives Sif a pleased half-smile, and saunters off through the portal Sif made for him as if she'd thrown roses at his feet. Regal.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet is physically completely exhausted. It's doubtful she can even get the energy together to force a rapid size change, let alone push through one in a fight. But she whirls in Jessica's arms with her eyes bulging with rage and curses spitting from clenched teeth--

--But Loki is gone, and Janet just stares at Sif with all the hate in her eyes she can muster, inchoate rage vastly disproportionate to her petite frame.

"You've got lousy taste in men, Sif," Janet hurls at the Asgardian woman. She fights against Jessica's strong hands, to no avail. "Or in pets. Either way, he needs a *muzzle* on him."

Janet twists her shoulders twice more and then slumps in defeat against Jess's restraints, then turns on her heel and starts walking quickly towards the other side of the roof. Away from Sif, and the yawning portal she guards.

Sif has posed:
It seems, at first, that all the Wasp might get in reply is the greatly unimpressed and vastly disapproving glare that only one raised in high court can muster. Sif might as well be made of marble for all she doesn't flicker an eyelash.

Then, with a sniff, she turns and says, as she steps through her own portal, just loudly enough to be heard:

"And you might consider leashing yours, Midgardian, given his propensity to disappear without thought." Once through, the aperture in reality falls to blend together seamlessly into empty air upon the cold and barren New York rooftop.